spoiler wins Canadian Grand Prix

[niky]

The excessive wear was built into the design portfolio on purpose. The extra wear was put in because there was hardly any overtaking in F1 prior to this... with "turtles" doing one stoppers and holding the entire field up near the end of the race.

Given the low downforce inherent in the current cars, they could probably stand to give the tires back some durability... just make the difference between the soft and hard tires even greater.

Originally Posted by mechman600

Makes you wonder why the aftermarket hasn't made a similar add on hybrid system for the cars of us mere mortals.

So sue me... I want a $25,000 steering wheel, too.

[NeilBlanchard]

Originally Posted by mechman600

At least there is tons of passing now. Only a few years ago F1 was a good way to fall asleep on the couch. I am happy with the current rules. 7 rounds so far with 7 different winners. Can't get better than that.

The best new rule that came at least 3 years ago, is no refueling during the entire race. This not only makes the pit stops much safer, all the cars are loaded almost the same at the beginning of the race, so the number of crashes have been reduced. Pit stops are shorter, so they have less of an influence on the race.

[mechman600]

Originally Posted by niky

So sue me... I want a $25,000 steering wheel, too.

The last I heard the steering wheels were more like $50K. I was hilarious seeing Mercedes' engineers all cringe when Schumacher threw his steering wheel after crashing a few rounds back.

Racing where there is very few rules becomes quite boring. With traction control, ABS and bullet proof tires, you may as well watch a bunch of robots racing around the track. The team with the highest paid electronics engineers wins. This is the reason why MotoGP racing has become so dull. Just past the apex, Stoner & Lorenzo are full throttle with their bikes at over 50 degrees lean angle and the electronics sort out the rest. The real skill is transferred to the electronics engineer.

F1 sacked ABS and traction control. Tires became purposefully flawed. Teams are limited to eight engines per year so they cannot flog them 100% at all times. There is a ridiculous amount of strategy required to win. Nobody was watching F1 and now they are. In the end, it's all about money, and you cannot make money when nobody is watching.

[kach22i]

The first stock car race this year was just crazy with the new shorter rear spoiler. They couldn't keep the cars on the track.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by some_other_dave

Porsche argued that they were integral to the design of the 917........

...Yeah, as I mentioned earlier I'm still reading through Excellence was Expected...

-soD

Great info.

[ChazInMT]

Originally Posted by aerohead

the wing performance would be severely compromised with this excrescence fouling

Heh heh heh... heh......Aerohead said, "Excrescence".

Funny when I first saw that I thought Phil had a serious typo, then I thought better and looked it up.

ex·cres·cence (ik-skres'ens)
n.
1. An outgrowth or enlargement, especially an abnormal one, such as a wart.
2. A usually unwanted or unnecessary accretion:

Ecomodder....putting fuel in your tank and words in your vocabulary!

[btracing]

Ok, I'm just going to kick this thread here. I've been wondering about the 'double DRS' that Mercedes had this year and thought about it for eco usage. A bit of tubing is easily made (just like ducting for cooling brakes). Would it help to get some air to the back of the car? Or maybe in front of the windshield on the hood? Taking some are from the grill would not be a problem I guess, but hey I'm just thinking some things up. I'm not an aero geek. Of course the effects should be at around highway speeds.

[royanddoreen]

Great read!!! F1 is better than ever. I'll leave all the typing to you lit buffs.

[niky]

Originally Posted by btracing

Ok, I'm just going to kick this thread here. I've been wondering about the 'double DRS' that Mercedes had this year and thought about it for eco usage. A bit of tubing is easily made (just like ducting for cooling brakes). Would it help to get some air to the back of the car? Or maybe in front of the windshield on the hood? Taking some are from the grill would not be a problem I guess, but hey I'm just thinking some things up. I'm not an aero geek. Of course the effects should be at around highway speeds.

The double DRS worked because all the cars were at the limits of aero regulations. Red Bull actually used their own double DRS to good effect in the last few races of the season. And their solution didn't require a complete re-engineering of the car, like Merc's system would have.

Double DRS essentially stalls wing elements to remove drag. Important on a racer with the drag coefficient of a brick wall. I don't know if it makes sense on a relarively aerodynamic street car. Especially when you can probably achieve better through sleeker aero.

[btracing]

Good point on the 'brick-like' aerodynamics, F1 is all about downforce. Maybe some eco aeroguys already thought about it though.